Your Friendly Neighborhood Music Critic

Pearl and the Beard – Beast

There must be hundreds of bands like Pearl and the Beard; a trio playing rock/folk with punk elements, and giant distorted guitar choruses. So how did Pearl and the Beard, in New York City, one of the most heavily populated musician-based area’s in the world, break the mold and completely raise all the money for their new release Beast and more from Pledge Music? For one, the record is produced with such elegance and precision alike to Florence + the Machine, with incredibly centered vocals and massive drums.

Second, maybe it’s the arrangements, the songwriting, but they’re more likable than the rest. There’s more of a charm to Pearl and the Beard than most, and I think it has something to do with their excellent control of vocals and vocal harmonies. The group can take it nice and smooth, like on “Good Death,” and “Yet,” or vamp it up like on, “Burn Me Up,” or the opener, “You.” Anyone interested in groups like Wild Belle, Wild Child, Florence + The Machine, Best Coast, here’s the new group for you. From what I’m just going to generalize due to I’ve never heard of them before/lack of press for the release, Pearl and the Beard deserve more attention.